The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home-price index, a closely watched gauge of U.S. home prices, was mostly flat in January from a month earlier.
The index declined 0.7% from a year earlier. On a month-to-month basis prices fell 0.4% in January from December, but adjusted for seasonal factors the 20-city index was 0.3% higher. The winter months are particularly slow for housing, and seasonal factors play a strong role in price declines. On a seasonally adjusted basis, eight cities posted month-to-month declines. Unadjusted, all but two regions experienced home-price drops.
Los Angeles posted the largest jump in prices, while Chicago posted the biggest drop. Four cities — Charlotte, Las Vegas, Seattle and Tampa — posted new lows following the financial crisis. On a relative basis, Washington, Los Angeles and New York have held up the most, with each of those markets still 70% above their January 2000 levels.
“There is little doubt that housing ’stabilization’ continues although the influx of four million new foreclosures, both on-the-market and shadow inventories that remain elevated, 30 year mortgage rates that are solidly through the 5.1% level and an unemployment rate that remains elevated will all likely continue to put downward pressure on demand and thus prices,” said Dan Greenhaus of Miller Tabak & Co.
Below, see data from the 20 metro areas Case-Shiller tracks, sortable by name, level, monthly change and year-over-year change — just click the column headers to re-sort.
(About the numbers: The Case Shiller indices have a base value of 100 in January 2000. So a current index value of 150 translates to a 50% appreciation rate since January 2000 for a typical home located within the metro market.)
Home Prices, by Metro Area
| Metro Area | January 2010 | Unadjusted Change from December | Seasonally Adjusted Change from December | Year-over-year change |
| Atlanta | 107.04 | -1.5% | -0.5% | -2.2% |
| Boston | 153.03 | -0.5% | 0.3% | 1.5% |
| Charlotte | 117.13 | -0.6% | -0.1% | -3.1% |
| Chicago | 125.11 | -1.7% | -0.8% | -4.4% |
| Cleveland | 103.12 | -0.7% | 0.7% | 0.2% |
| Dallas | 117.26 | -1.3% | -0.3% | 4.1% |
| Denver | 125.59 | -1.3% | 0.1% | 2.6% |
| Detroit | 71.82 | -1.1% | 0.1% | -7.4% |
| Las Vegas | 103.82 | -0.5% | 0.3% | -17.4% |
| Los Angeles | 172.98 | 0.9% | 1.8% | 3.9% |
| Miami | 148.32 | -0.2% | -0.1% | -6.7% |
| Minneapolis | 122.63 | -0.6% | 0.7% | 1.9% |
| New York | 171.27 | -0.3% | -0.3% | -5.3% |
| Phoenix | 111.76 | -0.6% | 0.8% | -4.6% |
| Portland | 147.29 | -1.8% | -0.5% | -4.2% |
| San Diego | 156.95 | 0.4% | 0.9% | 5.9% |
| San Francisco | 135.63 | -0.6% | 0.6% | 9.0% |
| Seattle | 145.09 | -1.7% | -0.6% | -6.0% |
| Tampa | 138.18 | -0.5% | 0.5% | -7.4% |
| Washington | 178.02 | -0.4% | 0.2% | 3.5% |
Source: Standard & Poor’s and FiservData